(Newser)
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Who better to talk about global warming in West Texas than an evangelical Christian? That's what gives geoscientist Katharine Hayhoe an edge in her crusade to convince people around Lubbock, Texas, that greenhouse gases are harming the environment, the Miami Herald reports. "People ask me if I believe in global warming," says the Texas Tech professor. "I tell them, 'No, I don't,' because belief is faith. ... Science is evidence of things seen."

Whether she's facing oil engineers or business students, Hayhoe speaks a language conservative Christians understand—about guarding God's creation and loving your neighbors. But she still runs into furious opposition along the West Texas Bible Belt. The rising star among climatologists says she changes about one mind per seminar. "To have an open mind," she says, "we have to use the brains that God gave us to look at the science."